Apparatus



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.

'J'. M. 1301s, v 7 HYDRAULIC AIR GOMPRESSING APPAEATUSP No. 259,799.

PatentedvJ'une 20,. 1882,.

IIVVEIVTOR A Home y IIIIII/ll'f/Ifll/IA N, PETiRS. vhmvmm m nr.Washington. u. z;

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. 1301s. I HYDRAULIC AIR GOMPRESSING APPARATUS. No. 259.799. V vPatented June 20, 1882.

WITNESSES v Y I v /V VENTOR A florney -UNI.TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES MfBoIs, OF EAST AURORA, NEW YORK.

HYDRAULIC AIR-'COMPRESSING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,799, dated June 20,1882.

Application filed February 14, 1882. (N model.)

To all whom it may-concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES M. BOIS, of East Aurora, in the county of Erieand State of New hydraulic compressing apparatus, the object being toutilizea head of water to compress air in a continuous and automaticmanner, and to store the air so compressed for all the uses whichitmaybe made to subserve.

With this object in view my invention consists in certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafterdescribed, and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in vertical'horizontal sectionthrough one of the two air=compressin g cyliuders,whicb, together withtheir valves and lever systems, constitute my improved apparatus. Fig.2is a view of the said cylinders taken through the gates which establishcommunication between them and the secondary water-reservoir. Fig. 3 isa view of the cylinders, taken through enact the waterdischarge-valvesystems; and Fig. 4 is a view in end elevation of my apparatus, showingalso the storage-reservoir and my improved pueu matic equalizer, forobtaining from'a pulsating column of compressed aira steady and uniform35' pressure. p

A represents a reservoir or any other desired source of water-supply. Itis connected with a secondary reservoir, B, by means of a pipe,

I C, the inflow of water from the primary reservoir A to the saidreservoir B being regulated by means of the gate D, which is adapted tobe operated independently of the apparatus by any approved form ofgate-opening device.

- midway of its length to a standard, J, located between'the cylinders.The gates aforesaid are automatically operated to alternately fill thecylinders from thercservoirB, and of their action in fulfilling thisfunction more hereinafter.

Floats K, located in the cylinders and suspended from their upper walls,are adapt-ed. to rise and fall with the inflow and outflow of water intoand from them, and to operate, by virtue of the reciprocating motionthus acquired, a system of levers which control the action of thedischarge-valves.

Inasmuch as the requirements of the invention demand that the system oflevers above referred to be operated only toward the termination of theflow of water into the cylinders, the floats are located very near theirupper walls, the same being recessed, as at K, to receive the floatswhen the water is at its highest elevation. I

With reference now to the construction, ar-

rangement, and operation of the said system of levers, the floats K areprovided with spindles L, having pins M projecting from them,

which engage as the floats rise with the arms N 1?, depending from thefree ends of the chains fulfill the function of restoring thecatch-levers to their normal positions of readiness to engage with theupper extremities of the stems S of the discharge-valves T after thesaid stems have been disengaged from thelex'ers by the action of thefloats K and the operatinglevers O. The said chains arepreferablyarranged to run over pulleys U, journaled in the upper ends ofthe standards V 5 but other devices for guiding the chains may be.resorted to, if desired. The valve-stems S of one cylinder are connectedwith the stems of the corre -sponding valves of the other cylinders bychains which run in pulleys journaled in the upper ends of standards X,secured to the upper faces of the cylinders, as shown. The

object in connecting the valve-stems in this manner is to render thevalvesmutually assistant in being opened and'closed. One or moreindependent levers, Y, pivoted to the standards Z and to the valve stemsS, have such relative disposition to each other that as the valve-stemsdescend by reason of their release from the catch-levers P and thepressure of the water in the cylinders upon the valves T, attached tosaid stems, they will, through the chains A, depress one of thegate-levers and inasmuch as the said gate-levers are connected .vith thestems of the gates and with the oscillating beam, as aforesaid, thedepression of one lever will effect the closing of one gate, theelevation of the other lever, the opening of the other gate, theelevation of the valvestems, and the closing of the valves located inthe cylinder in which the gate is opened, and the restoration of thelevers Y connected with the elevated gate-lever to positions ofreadiness to receive the proper impulse from the valvestems to whichthey are attached when the same are released from their catch-levers.

The number of levers Y employed will depend chiefly upon the pressure ofwater opposing the opening and closing of the gates, every additionalvalve-stem brought into the lever system by one of the levers Y givingadditional power.

In fulfilling the functions above recited the gate-levers are assistedby one or more of the discharge-valves T, the stems of which are pivotedto them, as shown in the drawings.

Air-valves B, located in the upper portions of the cylinders, aredesigned to admit atmospheric air into them, while safety-valves adaptedto be set to any predetermined pressure of compressed air, are designedto relieve the cylinders if the pressure to which they are set isexceeded. The cylinders are also furuished with domes D, provided withvalves L, arranged to automatically open and permit the passage of thecompressed air into the pipes M leading from the domes to the pipes N,and to close again to prevent the return of any of the compressed air tothe cylinders when the water which displaced and compressed it isdischarged.

The domes should be sufficiently capacious to prevent the suction of theair as it is forced through the valves L from carrying any water throughthem.

Man-holes 0, located in the exposed heads of the cylinder, are designedto render their interiors accessible for the regulation of the valves,floats, and gates.

The said pipe N leads to the storage-reservoir P, from which thecompressed air is conducted to the pneumatic equalizer Q, designed tosupply to any air-motor a volume of compressed air under an unvaryingpressure.

When it is desired to withdraw the water entirely from the apparatus thegate R, located in the primary reservoir, is closed, and a plug, S, iswithdrawn from an orifice in the secondary reservoir.

If desired, a wheel, T, may be located in the said secondary reservoirand the head of water in the pipe 0 thus utilized.

Having thus described my invention in detail, I will now set forth itsmethod of operation:

Assuming the gate G to be open, the relative positions of the valves andlevers of the two cylinders will be as follows: In the cylinder E thedischarge-valves T will be closed, the valve-stems S will he engagedwith the catch-levers P, and the levers Y will be in position to beacted upon by the descent of the said valve-stems, while in the cylinderE the gate G will be closed, the valves T will be opened, thevalve-stems S will be disengaged from the catch-levers P, and the leversY will be depressed. Under the conditions above recited water admittedinto the reservoir B will flow into the cylinder [Land by its firstcompression of the column of air therein close the air-valves B. As thewater rises in the cylinder it will displace and compress the airtherein and force it through the valve L of the dome D into the pipesleading to the res ervoir P. When the water attains a sufficientelevation, which occurs when the cylinder is almost full, the float Kwill be engaged and raised by the continued inflow of water, until, whenthe cylinder is completely filled, it will be forced into the recess K.Meanwhile, however, the pin M of the float-spindle L has been engagedwith the arm of the operating-lever O, which latter is connected throughthe me dium of the chain Q with the catch-lever P. As the float entersthe recess the movement of the actuating-lever is completed and thecatch-levers are disengaged from the valvestems S. The weight of thewater in the cylinder will immediately open the valves T and depress thestems S, which will, through the action of the levers Y, depress thegatelevcr H, close the gate F, elevate the gate lever H, open the gateF, close the valves T of the cylinder E, engage the valve'stems S of thesaid valves with their catch-levers P, and also elevate the lever Y,attached to the said valve-stems. Water will now flow in and fill thecylinder E, compress the air therein, and force it into the reservoir Pand elevate the float K, which will release the catch-levers P from thevalve-stems with which they are engaged. The presence of the water inthe cylinder will now open the valves T, the valve stems will descendand operate the levers Y, the gate-lever H will be depressed, the gate Fclosed, the gate-lever H elevated, the gate F opened, the valves T ofthe cylinder E will be closed, and the levers Y again elevated. Waterwill now flow into and flll the cylinder E, and the operation abovedescribed will be indefinitely repeated. The valves T are furtherrendered mutually assistant in being opened and closed by the chains W,which connect their valve-stems:

It is apparent from the foregoin g description that the action of thetwo cylinders in compressing air will be alternate, one cylinder beingfilled with water while the other is being emptied. It is also apparentthat the actuation of the lever and valve systems of the two cylindersdepends chiefly upon the motive force due to the water as it isdischarged from the cylinders.

In view of those changes, often rendered necessary by the oscillation ofthe ordinary practical conditions, I would have it understood that I donot limit myself to the exact construction shown and described, but thatI hold myself at, liberty to make such slight changes and alterations asfairly fall within the spirit and scope of myinvention.

Having fully described my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In ahydraulic air-compressin g apparatus, the combination, with twocylinders, of gates located between the cylinders and a watersupply,connection between said gates, floats located within the cylinders andarranged to actuate a system of levers to release thedischarge-valves,and systems of levers actuated by the discharge-valvesand arranged to close the gate of one cylinder and open the gate andclose the discharge-valves of the other cylinder.

2. In a hydraulic air-compressing apparatus, the combination, with twocylinders, of gates located between the cylinders and a water-supply,connection between said gates, floats located within the cylinders andarranged to actuate a system of catch-levers, dischargevalves providedwith stems adapted to engage with said catch-levers, and systems oflevers actuated by the discharge-valves and arranged to close the gateof one cylinder and open the gate and close the discharge-valves of theother cylinder.

3. In a hydraulic air-compressin g apparatus, the combination, with twocylinders, of gates located between the cylinders and awater-supply,connection between said gates, floats located within the cylinders andarranged to actuate a system of levers to release the discharge-valves,and a system of levers pivoted to the stems of the said discharge-valvesand arranged to close the gate of one cylinder and open the gate andclose the discharge-valves of the other cylinder,substantially as setforth.

4. In a hydraulic air-compressin g apparatus, the combination, with twocylinders, of gates located between the cylinders andawater-supply,gate-levers to which the gates are attached connection between saidgate-levers, floats arranged to actuatea system of levers to release thedischarge-valves, and a system of levers connecting the stems of thedischarge-valves with the free ends of the gate-levers.

5; In a hydraulic aircompressing apparatus, the combination, with twocylinders, of gates located between the cylinders and a water-supply,discharge-valves provided with valvestems, and connections between thestems of the corresponding valves of the two cylinders.

6. In a hydraulic air-compressin g apparatus, the combination, with aprimary reservoir and a secondary reservoir located below it, of twocylinders, gates located between them and the secondary reservoir, andconnection between said gates, of floats located within the cylindersand arranged to actuate a system of levers to release thedischarge-valves, and systems of levers actuated by the discharge valvesand arranged to close in one impulse the gate of

